ZTE N880E launches in China with Jelly Bean

ZTE has announced that they have released a new version of their N880E smartphone, and it comes with Jelly Bean (4.1.1) onboard. This is a big step for ZTE and the N880E, as it was just released in May with Gingerbread (2.3). It's also great news for the community in general as it shows that at least one manufacturer has been able to secure a quick turnaround of the Jelly Bean update.

The ZTE N880E is a China-only phone that boasts a 4-inch screen, 1GHz processor, 3.2MP camera, 4GB of storage and 512MB RAM.

ZTE also announced that other handsets will soon be launched that also come with Android 4.1.

It is an auspicious beginning for Jelly Bean and hopefully it foreshadows what's to come with other OEMs. Full press release after the break.

23 July 2012, Shenzhen, China – ZTE Corporation (“ZTE”) (H share stock code: 0763.HK / A share stock code: 000063.SZ), a publicly-listed global provider of telecommunications equipment and mobile devices, has launched its first Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean) handset in China just one week after the release of the official version of the mobile device operating system.

The ZTE N880E smartphone runs the Google Experience version of Jelly Bean and is the first Android 4.1 smart phone launched in China and the third in the world. Other ZTE handsets will be launched soon with Android 4.1.

“ZTE has an excellent relationship with Google and this, combined with our extensive R&D capabilities and our experience of customising devices for partners around the world, means we are able to bring new technologies to market very quickly,” said Mr. Kan Yulun,Vice President and CTO of the Handset Division, ZTE.“Our aim is to provide the best quality customer experience for the best value, and the N880E is a great example of this.”

The ZTE N880E smart phone has a 4.0-inch capacitive WVGA touchscreen, with a 1GHz Qualcomm 7627A processor, 4GB of memory and a 3.2MP AF camera. It is an ultra-slim device with just 10.4mm in thickness.

The ZTE N880E was originally launched in May 2012 running Android 2.3 and has already sold more than one million units.
Version 4.1 of the Android mobile device operating system was released on July 13 and offers improved performance and responsiveness, with new features such as expandable notifications and Google Now.